Drug safety agency authorizes sales of cannabis based medicine for the first time in France

PARIS—The French drug safety agency has approved commercial sales of a medicine derived from cannabis for the first time in France.

France’s Health Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that sales of Sativex, produced by Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals, will be allowed for the treatment of muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

Sativex contains marijuana’s two best known components—delta 9-THC and cannabidiol. The company’s website says the medicine has already been launched in 11 countries and approved in more than a dozen others.

A number of countries have been easing curbs on the sale of cannabis-based products for medical use in recent years, and the U.S. state of Colorado allowed the nation’s first legal recreational marijuana shops to open starting this year.